It's a Green Thing [Paperback]

It's A Green Thing: Diary of a Teenage Girl By Melody Carlson
My Review: Although I got in on this series in book two, I still found it to be enjoyable. There was a little background I would have liked, but the main points were filled in for me.

Maya is a teenage girl who longs for a "normal" life. I imagine it would be odd to think that anyone would want a normal life rather than be the daughter of a music idol, but when that part of your life also had you attached to an addict mother...normal might sound pretty good.

Maya is a new Christian and is fortunate to have a mentor named Caitlin who Maya can turn to with her questions. I loved this for many reasons. I think all new Christians should have a mentor for those questions that pop up. Weekly meetings with someone who can kind of direct you to the right scriptures and just be an ear to your struggles rocks. I wish I had that as a teen. Caitlin's advise seems to be very spot on.

The only thing that felt wrong to me was when Maya discussed Amanda and Brooke, two Christian girls who helped out doing a mural project. There were things that the girls said that offended Maya. Caitlin at one point told her that "Sometimes it seems that the Christians with the smallest faith have the biggest mouths." I objected to this in my mind as an adult. Because although I knew girls who talked a lot like Amanda and Brooke when I was a teen, I also know that they did have great faith, they just did not have the social skills to know how and when to discuss their faith. They were children who just plain did not have the skills to share. I had a neighbor who was a wonderful and giving Christian, but she had no tact whatsoever. Even though the statement said "it seems," it came across to me as very blanket. I do know that there is truth in that statement as well...it just left me conflicted when thinking of a teen who could read this and get a message that they couldn't fully understand.

Enough of that, really it was a small thing. It was nice seeing Maya develop in her faith. She also had a relationship that she was coming to terms with, and I am really glad that we got to see her conflict with getting too physical with Dominic. Melody Carlson really seemed to depict a lot of the confusion that goes on. It feels great at first, but afterward you are filled with questions and often awkward silence.

There are so many wonderful parts to this story, and one of the last I'll touch on was Maya's green tips. They were great! We are very environmentally conscious at my home, and I think it is awesome to have a book that can support that to a reader!

All in all, I really quite liked this book! I cannot wait to read more about Maya and get into the other books in the Diary of a Teenage Girl series.

The Diary of Teenage Girl series is, in my opinion, one of the best series out there for teens, Christian or not. There have been four girls spotlighted throughout the series and each has been different yet enjoyable to read. Some girls I've liked more than others and I will have to say that Maya's series is my favorite. I like Maya because she asks the questions that challenge Christians who think they know everything and isn't afraid of what others might think of her. In this book Maya feels that she's starting to become a normal teenager and is able to escape the jumbled life she used to live.

I really liked Maya's reactions to the Christian girls from her youth group. I have felt that Amanda and Brooke represent a good deal of real Christians teens who are two faced. They act like they are the perfect Christians while they are at church but then in real life they condemn everyone but back down when challenged. They also seem to throw themselves at boys a lot. I've experienced this treatment myself and the way Maya reacted was realistic. If she had just immediately forgiven the girls and let them walk over her, I would have been very disappointed in this book and would stop reading. However, she challenges them, gets irritated and tries to seek justice for the wrongs they caused. I really liked the way that everything got worked out involving the incident between Brooke and Maya. It's not neat and tidy and obviously Brooke needs to work on her attitude but it's an ending that I can accept because it's not sugar coated with fake Christianity. Also the situations with her and her boyfriend were handled tastefully and realistically as well.

Throughout the book Maya shares tips on saving the planet. Maya's green tips are great and I've tried several of them myself (although the tip about the car and not using the air conditioner or even opening the windows won't really work during summer). They really make you think about saving the environment but they are not trying to push an agenda. The only thing I would have liked would have been a response from Caitlyn to Maya's questions about being green and being vegan. It would have just been interesting to see what she would have to say or what most Christians think about that subject. This series is a favorite of mine and I'm looking forward to the rest of Maya's adventures.

Melody Carlson hits the mark again with the second installment in her Diary of a Teenage Girl series featuring Maya Stark, who was introduced to readers in A NOT-SO-SIMPLE LIFE. Maya's new adventure is to live a normal life, and in this current offering, IT'S A GREEN THING, this lovable fresh-to-Christianity teen is bursting over with questions and concerns on how to live the faith life with moral and ethical standards. To top off her inner probing, Maya also tries to find balance between going "green" to the extreme and adjusting her pre-conceived theories about how to best use and take care of our environment. She explores both her newfound faith tenets and the actual living out of them with equal zeal.

Maya wisely takes time to consistently meet with her youth pastor's wife, Caitlin, who offers Maya much insight into how to pair truth with life. Caitlin is not only a great mentor to Maya, she's young enough (and cool enough) to really get where Maya is coming from. But the best attribute Caitlin brings to Maya is abject honesty. Caitlin admits many Christians fail miserably to live and speak and think as Jesus taught, and it's no wonder that the glaring disjoint between the two confuses and discourages Maya.

As Maya adjusts to living with her widowed uncle Allen and cousin Kim, she tries to be as independent as possible realizing they are still dealing with the grief of losing a wife and mom. So Maya gets involved in a community art project where she takes issue with her friend Marissa as they discuss life and faith, partying and relationships. Soon, though, these minor differences don't even cast a shadow in comparison to the injury resulting in a bogus lawsuit by fellow churchgoing Christian Brooke Marshall. It's unbelievable that Brooke could and would lie about her fall and then blame it on Maya. Then again, once these teens found out that Maya's father is a famous pop star, it made way more sense.

As Maya figures out how to forgive Brooke, she is also trying to determine the ins and outs of having a boyfriend and all the unspoken rules of dating. It doesn't take long before the physical part of the relationship has both Maya and Dominic struggling on multiple levels, and once again Maya goes to Caitlin for counsel and advice. Circumstances continue to edge up the not-so-normal life of Maya as she takes on newspaper column writing on environmental concerns. With these three challenges, Maya is learning how much her faith fits into the entire scheme of life, and though she still feels unsure about some of the details of her future (and her relationships), she is absolutely confident that God will stick with her all the way.

As a bonus for readers, Melody Carlson includes Maya's Green Tip of the Day at the close of every chapter. Each of these tips is practical, enlightening and easy to put into practice.

--- Reviewed by Michele Howe

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